Television, Movies, Books, Radio, and Press

Presenters:

Mario Picayo(Cultural Activist and Producer)

Diana Vargas(Colombian Journalist)

Rodolfo Quebleen(Argentinean Journalist)

Albor Ruiz(Chief Editorial Writer)

ALBOR RUIZ is a columnist for the New York Daily News. A former National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Region II Director and member of its National Board, he has had a long career as writer an editor. He was hired at the Daily News as an Editorial Writer and was the first Latino member of that paper's Editorial Board. He has also worked as an Opinion Page Editor for The News. Ruiz, a lecturer for NYU's Center of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), was the Editor-in-Chief of El Daily News, the first bilingual newspaper in the country, as well as Executive Editor of Mas magazine, Editor at La Familia de Hoy and Chief Editorial Writer, Columnist and News Editor at New York's El Diario-La Prensa. He has also written opinion columns for Newsday and published extensively in English and Spanish in several national and international publications. In 2003 he was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame. Before becoming a journalist he was a Humanities, Philosophy and Spanish professor in Miami, Puerto Rico and New York. Born in Cuba, he has lived in New York City since 1980.

MARIO PICAYO is a cultural activist, audiovisual artist and producer. He has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, the Dominican Republic's Institute of Folklore and other cultural institutions in the United States and the Caribbean. As a photographer, Mario Picayo’ solo exhibitions have been presented in New York, Spain, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Cuba, and the Virgin Islands. In the past he has worked as editor for Sesame Workshop (Sesame Street). He currently divides his time between duties as Editor in Chief of Editorial Campana, an independent publishing house, as Producer of Gente y cultura, the award winning public television program, and as Executive Director of LART (Latino Artist Round Table), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1999. The New York State Assembly made public recognition to his artistic career and his work as defender and promoter of Latino culture in 2004.

DIANA VARGAS: (Colombia-USA). Worked for seven years for the weekly television program Rostros y Rastros winner of numerous international awards. Diana lives in New York where she organizes and promotes cultural events. She is a media consultant and specializes in the areas of music, film, and literature. In the area of film programming, for the past four years, she has been coordinating the Latin American section of the Havana Film Festival in New York and she is also director and founder of the Festival de cortos Latinoamericanos Corto Circuito in association with the Centro King Juan Carlos I of New York University. As a journalist she writes for various publications including Hoy, Tribune, and La Opinión (Los Angeles).

RODOLFO C. QUEBLEEN: was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1938. Playwright, writer, and poet (C.E.P.I., Award, New York). Part of the Televisa news team in New York, also worked for and directed El Diario-La Prensa in 1990. Presently he works for Daily News and directs Hora Hispana a Spanish weekly magazine.